Mark Schwarzer

Mark Schwarzer (born 6 October 1972 in North Richmond, New South Wales) is an Australian Association football player. Schwarzer is an Australia national football (soccer) team Goalkeeper (football), who plays for English FA Premier League football team Fulham F.C..

Club career

Schwarzer has worn the same pair of shinpads since he started his professional career at the age of 19 with Marconi Stallions, in the National Soccer League.

After spells at Dynamo Dresden, FC Kaiserslautern and Bradford City A.F.C., Schwarzer joined Middlesbrough F.C. in April 1997. He was considered a large contributor to the recent success of Middlesbrough and an important part of the team.

Schwarzer made his debut for Middlesbrough against Stockport County F.C. in the Football League Cup semi-finals. He played in the final against Leicester City F.C., a 1–1 draw, but injury kept him out of the replay, which Middlesbrough lost. However, he was part of the side who beat Bolton Wanderers F.C. to win the 2004 Football League Cup final, producing a superb display having recovered after his mistake in letting in a soft shot.

Perhaps his most important save for Middlesbrough came in the last match of the FA Premier League 2004-05 against Manchester City F.C., saving a Robbie Fowler penalty kick (football) in Football (soccer) Duration to preserve a 1–1 draw. The draw was sufficient to put Middlesbrough in seventh in the final league table and ensure qualification for the UEFA Cup. Had Fowler converted the penalty, Man City would have qualified for the UEFA Cup at Middlesbrough's expense. The save made him a local hero for Middlesbrough: as local radio commentator Alastair Brownlee excitedly declared, "Get in, Get in you big Aussie! The greatest Australian hero since Ned Kelly!".

Schwarzer was granted a transfer request by Middlesbrough late in 2005 and sought to join a new club, but he withdrew his request on 20 January 2006, and rejoined the team. However, a fractured cheekbone sustained against West Ham United F.C. looked like it had ruled Schwarzer out for the rest of the season, but he returned for the UEFA Cup final against Sevilla FC, albeit playing with a protective mask.

When he played in Middlesbrough's 1–0 victory over Portsmouth F.C. on 29 December 2007, he became the Premier League's longest-serving foreigner at one club beating Dennis Bergkamp's record of 315 games.

Schwarzer's contract with Middlesbrough expired in June 2008, and although he was offered a new contract, manager Gareth Southgate had to plan a future with a new goalkeeper, as on 21 May 2008, Schwarzer signed a two-year deal at Fulham, ending an 11-year association with the Teeside club. Schwarzer revealed in an interview with The World Game that he had received offers from FC Bayern Munich and Juventus F.C. but declined their offers because they could not guarantee him the position as the number 1 keeper.

Schwarzer made his Fulham debut in a 2–1 defeat to newly-promoted Premier League side Hull City A.F.C., but he followed up by keeping a clean sheet in his next match in a 1–0 win at home to Arsenal F.C..

International career

Schwarzer made his international debut for Australia national football team against Canada national football team in Edmonton in a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier. He came on as a substitute for Milan Blagojevic after first-choice Robert Zabica was sent off 17 minutes into the match. In the return leg in Sydney, he covered himself in glory when he saved two penalties to send Australia to the final phase of qualifying against Argentina national football team. Schwarzer did not play in these matches, and Australia were defeated 2–1 on aggregate.

He was instrumental in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (play-off CONMEBOL-OFC) for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, in the play-off against Uruguay national football team. After Uruguay national football team won the first leg 1–0 in Montevideo, Australia won 1–0 in Sydney. In the penalty shootout, Schwarzer saved two penalties to see Australia victorious 4–2.

At the World Cup Finals he played the first two games in Australia's group matches, conceding a controversial goal against Japan national football team and two goals against Brazil national football team. In the third match he was replaced by Zeljko Kalac, but after Kalac's disappointing performance he was reinstated for the Round of 16 match against Italy national football team.

Even though he predicted the direction of the penalty kick, he was unable to save the penalty in the second round of the FIFA World Cup against Italy, which was scored by Francesco Totti in injury time and sent Australia out of the World Cup.

After the World Cup in 2006, he vowed to return for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He played in all of Australia's matches in the 2007 Asian Cup although he performed admirably against Oman in the 1–1 draw he made an error which led to a goal in the 3–1 loss to Iraq and could not match Japanese goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi during the penalty shootout which saw the Socceroos crash out of the competition in their debut at the tournament. Schwarzer said that the penalty-shootout in the Asian Cup quarter-finals was the first penalty-shootout in his career that he had ever lost.

Schwarzer saved an 89th minute Shao Jiayi penalty against China national football team in Australia's 0–0 draw in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) in March 2008, continuing his record of stopping penalty kicks.
He received his second yellow card of the tournament against Qatar national football team in Doha, in which Australia were 3-1 winners. He also missed Australia's 2nd leg game against the China national football team in Sydney. He will be back to the squad for the 2nd round of World Cup Qualification.

Family life

Schwarzer is of German descent, his parents Hans-Joachim and Doris having emigrated to Australia from Germany in 1968. He speaks English, Spanish and German. Schwarzer and his wife Paloma have two children; a son, Julian, and a daughter, Amaya.

Honours

With Middlesbrough F.C.:
- UEFA Cup: UEFA Cup 2005–06 (Runners-Up)
- Football League Cup: Football League Cup 2003-04